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Here’s how to help your community with your shopping

Small local businesses are the backbone of every community in our country. When you buy from a locally owned store, restaurant, or farmers market, more of that money stays in that community, keeping the town vibrant, creating jobs, supporting local charities, boosting the fire and police departments.

Small local businesses are the backbone of every community in our country. When you buy from a locally owned store, restaurant, or farmers market, more of that money stays in that community, keeping the town vibrant, creating jobs, supporting local charities, boosting the fire and police departments.

In fact, more than 50 cents of every dollar you spend locally stays and recirculates in that community. When you shop at a chain store or restaurant, only 16 cents has a local impact. When you shop online? Virtually nothing helps your town or the towns you love.

Here’s how to make your three “B’s” local this summer:

• Barbecues. Head to your local farmers’ market when you’re stocking up for that Sunday afternoon barbecue with friends or just a weeknight barbecue to feed the family.

Going to the farmers’ market is fun, especially for kids. You meet your neighbors. You taste samples. Often you hear some music. It’s an inexpensive weekly family outing. It also helps your kids develop a taste for a much wider selection of fruits and vegetables.

Your fruits and vegetables also are likely to be fresher and tastier when you buy them at farmers markets than at chain supermarkets or big box stores. You’ll find more varieties of peaches or types of lettuces you never knew about.

They come straight from the farm – often having been picked just the day before – so they last longer. When you buy groceries from a store such as Walmart, your lettuce is likely to have spent a lot of time on a truck, going from a factory farm to distribution center to store loading dock, and who knows how long that all takes?

Increasingly, you’ll also see local ranchers selling locally bred meats at your farmers market. So you can pick up a steak or rack of ribs for your barbecue at the same time.

• Beaches. Instead of stopping for a corporately engineered burger or industrially produced pizza at yet another national fast-food outlet, check out a local diner, cafe or restaurant. Try out the local specialties. America still has some delicious regional cuisine, and you’re missing the taste of a lifetime if you’re eating at a McDonald’s instead of trying the Texas barbecue brisket, the Georgia peach pie or the New Orleans jambalaya. Wherever you go, eat local. And don’t forget to try the local microbrews.

Instead of purchasing your beach supplies at a chain store, get your umbrellas, suntan lotion, flip-flops from local stores, either in your own community before you head out or at your destination.

• Baseball. Many cities and towns have minor-league teams, such as the Lakewood BlueClaws, and their games are far less expensive and often more fun than the majors. Local restaurants and barbecue joints may run the food stands.

Major-league teams have Fortune 500 companies as sponsors. Minor-league and local sports teams rely on local small businesses for support.

All kinds of local entertainment happens during the summer that you should take advantage of. You’ll find summer theater from local groups, lots of local summer music festivals and crafts fairs.

If you own or run a small company, you know how much you depend on your community for your survival. So return the favor and make sure to patronize local and small companies no matter where you travel.